Retail

“Can I help you, or are you just looking?”

Our clients understand the conversation between the customer and retail assistant is a critical opportunity, influencing the likelihood of purchase, repeat business and customer loyalty. The conversation needs to be brilliant. But how do you train, engage and motivate thousands of shop floor staff when the logistical and cost challenges of taking them away from the stores are so considerable?

Success stories in retail

We addressed these challenges in collaboration with the retail arm of a major global retailer in the UK, with 450 stores and 4500 retail staff. Working closely with the business, we identified “what good looks like” for the desired behaviors of retail staff and created a framework for brilliant customer conversations. These behaviors and conversations were tailored to different types of buyer at different stages of their purchasing journey. To deliver the framework we developed a tiered, blended training program for store management and their teams. The majority of the learning was delivered in bite-sized sessions, online or by the store manager. A comprehensive learning and development structure is now in place, allowing staff to demonstrate their progression and share their learning experiences.

The program has been well received by staff and managers and the impact has been felt by customers. The number of staff committed to training plans has risen from 5% to 95%, and the goal of engaging shop floor staff with their development has been more than achieved.

The UK retail Academy was a success because it created a development culture delivered straight to our retail stores and an unprecedented desire to learn amongst the in-store population. Head of Sales and Service Academy, UK Retailer